How to Deal with Being Brainwashed
by JuliaDarkness
Summary: A list of the ways that Paris changes after Hawk Moth starts his attacks.


**Author's note: Wow, my first fanfic for this fandom got the most positive response I had ever received for my writing on this website. I'm honored. I think it's in part because of the enthusiastic fandom that is the Miraculous Ladybug viewership. Thanks.**

 **For my next trick, we're not just looking at our favorite couple/foursome, but the wider world around them. People have their own lives, you know. That kid that sits behind you in math class is texting their best friend about how both their parents are cheating on each other with the babysitter. But you'll never know.**

 **Enjoy**

 _1 People become nicer._

Marinette stared at her test as she walked home for lunch. It could have been worse, but a C- was not something her parents would be happy about.

Out of nowhere a daffodil was shoved inches from her face. Marinette shrieked and jumped back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

A girl around her age smiled at her. She carried daffodils in her hands, while under her arm was a parasol. Marinette thought she looked familiar.

"I just thought you seemed sad, so I wanted to remind you that the storm will soon pass."

That's where she saw her before, thought Marinette. Stormy Weather.

"Uh, thank you." Marinette took the flower. "That's so sweet."

"You're welcome. And if you ever feel like you need to talk someone about anything-school, work, family, relationships-we're here for you." She pulled a business card out of her pocket.

P.E.A.C.E.

Love conquers all

A number was written underneath a rainbow.

"P.E.A.C.E.?"

"Parisians Embracing All Citizens Everyday. It's an organization dedicated to helping people manage their emotions." She leaned in and whispered like she was telling a secret. "So people don't, you know, transform."

"Oh."

Marinette thanked the girl again and continued home. Tikki poked her head out of Marinette's purse.

"What do you think? People are acting nicer."

Marinette ducked into a small alleyway. No one was there. Tikki floated up to her shoulder.

"Yeah Tikkik, but most of the time you can't help your feelings. Like with Max. He was justifiably upset. Or Simon. Or even that girl-what was her name?-who lost a contest. You can't just stop people from ever feeling sad or angry about anything."

"That girl was probably scared by what she had done."

"But that wasn't her fault. And by doing this stuff," Marinette waved her card in the air, "they just make the akumatized victims feel more guilty. Like they could have stopped it if they tried. Like they're blaming them."

"Maybe, but if this is how that girl copes, do you really want to take that away from her?"

Marinette glanced out the alleyway. The girl with the parasol was hugging a girl from her school. Even from a distance Marinette could tell that her classmate had been crying.

"No, I guess not."

Marinette continued home to face the music.

 _2 People do their research._

Louis Moreau had owned a comic book store for nine years. Business came and went. But in the last few months, sales had been increasing at an unusual rate.

It wasn't caused by a recent Marvel movie. The most bought comics ranged from mecha manga to mummy curses. Louis couldn't see any pattern in why certain comics flew off the shelves and why others didn't. They all varied in artistic style, graphic nature and story genre. The only thing Louis noticed was that issues of comics that dealt with brainwashing, like Apocalypse hypnotizing the X-men, were popular. Louis assumed the kids these days were doing something with memes or whatnot, so he didn't bother to ask.

One day, two high school boys were huddled over an issue of a little known superhero comic.

"Look, this guy is using a song to take control of people. And that guy's wearing noise cancelling headphones?"

"Why didn't we think of that?"

Louis wasn't paying attention to his potential customers. He was being entertained by what was out his window.

A boy handed a girl a yellow daffodil.

"I got this for you. A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady."

"Adrien Agreste, did you just try and re-gift a flower?" The girl crossed her arms over her chest. Louis chuckled. Some people had been handing out flowers all week. Something about world peace.

The boy scratched his head. "No. Well, kinda."

Louis' attention was taken away the two boys and the stack of comics they were ready to purchase. The one that had just looked at was on top.

"Find everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, it's very educational."

 _3 The economy grows._

"And over here we have a local Parisian TV studio. The studio was attacked or visited by no less than five villains," a perky college student said as she walked backwards down the street. A group of people reading pamphlets and maps trailed behind her.

"Most memorably, one villain even broadcasted his evil deeds on live TV."

"Why doesn't she say their names," one guy towards the back whispered.

"Weren't you paying attention at the beginning," another guy said. "It's their policy not to say their names so the victims can move on."

"They don't want to get sued, idiot," a white haired woman said.

"That's lame," the first guy said. "We don't even know who she's talking about."

"Then google it, you lazy bitch. I'm trying to listen." The old woman waved her cane at the guy, who quickly made his way to the front of the group.

"Now, as we continue down the street, we'll head the Eiffel Tower. Several villains fought Ladybug and Cat Noir there, including the first one to attack Paris. There, dozens of akumas formed the head if Hawk Moth, and Parisians had a face to put with their new number one enemy. But Ladybug was not deterred . . ."

As the tour guide went on, the group passed by a toy store. Several yoyos featured prominently in the window.

 _4 The economy suffers._

"What do you mean you're going to be late for your shift? We have hungry people waiting to be served."

Chantel, a 20 something woman in a waitress uniform, ducked behind an overturned car as something down the sidewalk threw sand everywhere. She was three blocks down from Notre Dame and a standard battle between good and evil had interrupted her commute.

"I'm sorry, but an akuma villain is wreaking havoc and blocking traffic. I can't get there in time. Can't Marie cover for me?"

"No, because MARIE IS THE ONE WITH THE AKUMA! Some kid tripped her and she spilled clam soup all over herself. The girl took a picture and voila, an evil mermaid is throwing shells at people."

"Wait, that's Marie?" Chantel peeked over the top of the car. The woman looked like the restaurant's logo, a mermaid with blond hair and a pink tail sitting on a giant shell being pulled by dolphins. Chantel never told her coworkers how tacky she thought it looked.

"How am I supposed to run a business with people dressing up like reject Batman villains all the time?" Her boss swore as Chantel ducked behind the car again, just in time to avoid a starfish shuriken.

"I'll come into work as soon as Ladybug and Cat Noir finish up. I'll bring Marie, too."

Her boss sighed. "Fine. Get here as soon as you can."

She felt terrible leaving everyone short staffed, but there was no way she could get to work through this mess. As she hung up the phone, something jumped on the car. A teenage boy, dressed in what her opinion were very age inappropriate clothes, held out his hand.

"Come with me ma'am, we need to get you to safety."

Chantel let Cat Noir help her to the nearest building. She took one last look at her coworker unleashing a small tidal wave at Ladybug. Yeah, she thought, their logo was definitely tacky.

 _5 Magic exists._

On the steps of the school, Juleka was so engrossed in her book that she didn't even notice her girlfriend until she tapped her on the nose.

"What'cha reading?"

Juleka showed Rose the cover of her book, _Magic Spells for Beginners._ A black cat graced the front of the book. Rose tilted her head.

"Is this like that show, Charmed?"

"Not exactly." Juleka pointed to the page she was reading, a spell to get over shyness. "But I figured that if we have superheroes and supervillains running around Paris using magic jewels, this could work, too."

"I think that makes sense."

The warning bell rang. Rose and Juleka walked hand in hand to class. They passed by Marinette and Adrien near their lockers. Adrien had a bouquet of red roses.

"See, I bought them this time. Ta da."

"Aw, Adrien, you didn't have to." Marinette took the flowers. She sniffed one, then screamed.

"Bee!"

Marinette threw the roses on the ground and ran. Adrien, Juleka and Rose weren't far behind her.

 _6 There is a support group, and it sounds as dumb as you think it is._

"Alright, let's get this thing started." Lt. Roger hit the gavel on the podium. In a semi-circle in front of him, Xavier Ramier, Jalil Kubdel, and Fred Haprele sat.

"Now, we're not here to judge-"

"Then how come you look like a judge," Jalil asked as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. He was the youngest of the group, an undergraduate student.

"Yeah, plus really if you look at it, my possession was your fault," the so-called Pigeon master said.

"For the last time, you were disobeying the-okay, forget it. That's not the point. We're here to support each other and talk about what we've learned, how we've grown from this experience."

"I've learned that my dad likes my sister more than me," Jalil said. "But I already knew that."

"What do you mean?" Roger asked.

Jalil shrugged as he slouched further into his seat. "I get akumatized, my dad yells at me for almost destroying museum property. My sister gets akumatized, she gets ice cream, even though she almost broke a family heirloom because of her foolishness, before she even got possessed. What I'm going to do to move on from this is get a job after college in England and only see my family for the holidays. Other than that, it wasn't my fault. I'm only here because it would make my girlfriend happy."

"I'm only here because I don't want to get arrested," Xavier said. He and Roger reached an understanding: he can feed pigeons at one small, secluded park in exchange for "rehabilitation."

"Anyway," he continued, "why should we feel guilty anyway? This could have happened to anyone. It does happen to anyone."

"Yeah," Jalil said. "This is pointless. We don't even remember anything that we did."

"Fred!" Roger gestured to the man to come up to the podium. "Anything you care to add?"

Fred held up his hands in a perfect IDK gesture.

"This isn't mime school Fred, use your words."

"First of all, mime school is harder than you think it is. Second, yes I feel bad, of course I do. But it started because of a co-worker's actions. He apologized, we made up, and I don't see why we have to dwell on it."

Jalil nodded. "My thoughts exactly. Say, anyone else up for some coffee? There's this new Ethiopian place that just opened up down near the Louvre."

Xavier and Fred got up. Roger hit the podium again.

"Hey, wait just a darn minute! I abused my power, declared two kids enemies of the state and kidnapped the mayor! And you all say I should just get over it? Pretend it never happened? What kind of message does that send to my men? To my daughter?"

"I told my daughter that sometimes things just happen," Fred responded. "Holding onto this guilt is only going to make you not able to do your job well. Is that an example you want to set for everyone?"

"As far as police go, you're not that bad," Xavier added. "Some of the other officers were much ruder to me."

"We were temporarily controlled by a crazed supervillain seeking ultimate power," Jalil said. "It happens."

Roger sighed. He set down the gavel.

"Never tried Ethiopian coffee. Think it's any good?"

 _7 Alya gets an internship._

"OH MY GOD CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! LE MONDE WANTS ME TO WORK FOR THEM! ME!" Alya jumped up and down on her bed. Marinette had never seen her friend so excited before. So giddy. So not sassy and in control. It was a bit creepy.

"Wow, that's so great!" Marinette threw her arms around her in a big hug. "You're going to be amazing."

"I mean, I had no idea I wanted to even do journalism," Alya said as she spun around the room. "But my blog took off, and they said they loved the timeliness, the attitude, the research, even the layout. Like, how is this even possible?"

"It's possible because you're super smart and your blog is megapopular."

Alya grabbed Marinette's arms and spun around with her in some sort of celebration dance. "Le Monde is one of the most respected newspapers in all of France, in all the world! One day I could see my name in print."

Marinette had always heard "see my name in lights," but she knew Alya would never go on stage. She was a writer.

"They also said they loved the Ladybug interview I got. Thank you so much again. How'd you even get that interview anyway?" Alya flopped back on her bed, still shaking with excitement.

"Oh, you know, she was in the neighborhood and I thought, why not ask?" Marinette smiled in what she hoped wasn't a suspicious way.

"Apparently it was the only interview she ever gave. And Cat Noir has never given out any of them."

"Well, maybe he will someday."

That sounded better than flowers.

 _8 Everyone is scared of Chloe._

"What do you mean no one is here?!" Chloe stomped her foot and glared at her butler. Her birthday party started half an hour ago. The hotel lobby was decorated in yellow and pink balloons. Her father forced her to invite everyone in her class, and some of Paris' more notable people were also on the list.

"I'm sorry miss, but from what I gathered, many people were worried an akuma would attack your party."

Chloe threw up her hands. "Why on Earth would that happen?"

"Well, there was your friend Sabrina, that cop-what was his name?-Princess pink haired girl, some other girl with pink hair, Reflector I believe, the boy from Valentine's Day, and the one who made the nice drawings. He had such a remarkable talent. There's probably more, but I forget."

The butler's face was never anything but calm as Chloe screamed and ran to go find her father.

First the incident at school today, she thought, and now this?!

" _How dare you talk to me like that you lesbian!"_

 _Juleka stood in front a cowering Rose, her hands clenched at her sides. They were in the school library, and Chloe had just yelled at Rose for knocking over her textbooks._

" _Listen here you bottle blond bimbo, I don't care how much money you want to throw around to cover up your mommy abandoning you, but talk to my girlfriend like that again and I'll show you how we handle people like you down in Normandy."_

 _Before Chloe could respond, Nathaniel began clapping quietly. Her signature death glare didn't shut him up, and neither did it stop Kim and Ayla from joining in._

 _Juleka smirked. "I guess the lesbian won this one." She took Rose's hand and walked off to another corner of the library. Whispers of "it worked," and "magic" were barely audible. Chloe ran to the ladies' room in a huff._

Now Chloe sat in the hotel lobby, fuming. As if an akuma would attack her party. And if it did, all it meant would be that Ladybug and Cat Noir would come to her party, too. She looked at the clock, which told her it had been an hour since her party was supposed to start. Chloe headed up ti her room, but not before she popped a pink balloon.

 _9 Adrien is doubly famous._

"I prefer DC, but Deadpool is like my spirit animal." Cat Noir grinned and leaned against the railing of a secluded balcony. Alya scribbled down what he said, even though she was already recording the conversation.

"Although technically, I guess my real spirit animal is a cat." Alya rolled her eyes.

"So moving on, is there anything you'd like to say to the former akumatized out there?"

"As someone who has been brainwashed, I know it's not fun." He stopped smiling and glanced out at the river below. The night sky shimmered in the water. Alya waited, to see if he would say something else.

"You know, I don't remember the first kiss I had with Ladybug. All I remember was afterwards. She had kissed me to break mind control over me. I did know that I was about to use my powers against her."

Alya didn't write anything down. She didn't say anything, either.

"I had fought the love of my life, because of Hawk Moth's powers. I know she forgives me, and I know I should, too. But it's hard, sometimes. You wonder if it was really someone's powers, or if you're really that bad deep down. If you were better, maybe you could resist it."

Alya wondered if Cat Noir remembered that she had been akumatized, too.

"I just want everyone to know that none of that is true. You are good people, even if you were forced to do bad things." He smiled at her. "Ladybug and I will never blame any of you, and we will do whatever it takes to save all of you. Because everyone is worth saving."

"Um, thank you." Alya scribbled down a few words to busy herself. "So, what's going on with you and Ladybug? You two are dating, right?"

"Yeah, we are." He chuckled. "But it's not what you'd think it'd be like."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not like a fairytale or a comic book. We have to work together to protect Paris, but we also have to work together to protect our relationship. Sometimes we say the wrong things, or forget something, and sometimes she gets annoyed because I'm terrible with flowers." He laughed at what Alya assumed was an inside joke. "But she makes me feel safe, and loved. And that's not something I had felt for a while." He glanced at the camera. "Off the record?"

Alya switched off the camera. She set down her notebook, too.

"Sometimes I don't think I'd be here if it wasn't for Ladybug."

"You, you mean because she saved you from akumas? Or . . ." She didn't know how to finish that sentence.

"She makes sure I get enough to eat. She tells me she's proud of me, even when I'm being dumb. She's so, well, strong. Strong when I'm not." Cat Noir turned away. Alya hoped he wasn't crying.

"I just don't want her to see that, you know? She'd worry."

"Yeah, it's okay, don't worry about it." Alya hurriedly turned the camera back on. "So, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"Yeah. I've read those internet posts and I'd like to say that I don't fight commando. Neither one of us do. And we know that Rule 32 exists, but we'd rather not see it. So to that one guy from America, sorry, but we don't want your artwork." He winked at the camera. "Ladybug doesn't want me to get any more ideas."

Alya shook her head, but wrote down notes anyway.

 _10 People appreciate the little things more._

The afternoon sun shone on Marinette's deck. Marinette touched her new flower crown on her head. Adrien had it shipped from America, where it was all the rage. She didn't know if she felt pretty or ridiculous, but Adrien had gone to so much trouble. It was sweet.

Adrien watched her fiddle with her headband. His head rested in her lap. He had come over for lunch, like he did at least once a week. Her parents loved feeding him, and Adrien was very appreciative.

"Are you looking for a bee," he asked. Marinette pinched his cheek.

"You're such a silly kitty." She brushed the hair from his eyes. Her other hand rested on his stomach. She slipped her fingers underneath his shirt and skin touched skin, in a way that had more to do with vulnerability than sex. Adrien closed his eyes.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too, Adrien."

Alya had told her what Cat Noir had said off the record. (If only she knew that she was telling the one person Cat Noir said he didn't want to know.) But Marinette had already suspected Adrien had some depression. She would keep a close eye on him. Maybe he would agree to see a counselor. Maybe she could ask Nino for help.

Adrien began to snore softly. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"You're strong too, Adrien," she whispered. "You're my hero."

Marinette glanced at their kwamis, who were dozing in a little basket nearby. The afternoon sun warmed the bricks and the blankets around them, giving everything a cozy glow. But Marinette didn't want to take a nap. This was a lunch that hadn't been interrupted by an akuma.

She wanted to enjoy it.

 **Author's other note: Once again, this turned out to be more heartfelt than I intended. Maybe next time I'll have Cat Noir doodle dicks or something.**


End file.
